Norbert Otto - Penprinzess

[ericzamir]

I really tried. He's either gone to his reward, or is incredibly rude and unreliable.

I purchased a pen from him via eBay in 2006 - a double jeweled green vac major with a delightful flexy BB Canadian nib. The pen was in perfect shape, except brassing on the cap band.
After a couple of months, the diaphragm went, and I sent it to him for repair. The pen arrived back four months later (!), after he had sent it to someone in the UK for repair. I was away during the summer and didn't get to fill the pen until I got back to Italy in September. Whe I did so, I noticed that the cap didn't thread onto the barrel, or stay capped.
I looked closely and the barrel threads were stripped. There was also no more imprint. And the rear cap was not flush. It also looked like the barrel had been sliced in half (the Black Dahlia...) and glued back together. So I contacted him. His solitary response was "what do you want me to do about it?"
I responded that perhaps he could help me find another barrel, or even a new pen body, and that I would even be willing to pay for it, although, in my opinion, the pen repair person swapped barrels on me.
No response. It's been two months. I've written from at least two different emails, and have tried to reach him through Tom Westerich. No response. Nada. Which makes me even more suspicious, not to mention angry.
So, great person when you've got cash in your hand, yeah, but the test is when things get brown and runny.
Norbert Otto flunked.